DAILYKENN.com -- An illegal alien is accused of running over a bicyclist with his pick up truck, and then driving miles as the victim lay dying in the truck's bed.

Kentucky.com says "Odilon Paz-Salvador, 29, was charged with murder, wanton endangerment, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and failure to render aid after the death of Lexington lawyer Mark Hinkel."

News reports say the victim was hit head-on while riding his bicycle. He flipped, landing in bed of the illegal alien's Dodge truck. The alien continued to drive three miles and likely would have driven much further had he not been spotted by police.

Hinkle, 57, died at the hospital later that day.

The alien's wife claimed he was "He's a really good guy" who may have had a drinking problem.

Our summation is that even "nice" illegal aliens pose a risk to law-abiding Americans.

The man accused of hitting and killing a Lexington bicyclist might have a drinking problem, his wife said Tuesday as her husband pleaded not guilty in Scott District Court.

Odilon Paz-Salvador, 29, was charged with murder, wanton endangerment, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and failure to render aid after the death of Lexington lawyer Mark Hinkel, who was struck Saturday during the Horsey Hundred cycling event in Scott County.

Hinkel, 57, was hit head-on and landed in the bed of Paz-Salvador's Dodge pickup, police said. Paz-Salvador traveled three miles with Hinkel in the truck before Georgetown police spotted Hinkel and stopped Paz-Salvador. Hinkel died shortly after at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital.

Judge Vanessa M. Dickson said Tuesday that Paz-Salvador was a flight risk and a danger to the community, and she kept his bond at $100,000. Paz-Salvador told police he had drunk six beers and smoked marijuana.

Joy Paz said she has been married to Paz-Salvador for five years and has been with him for eight. He ran because he was scared, she said.

"He's a really good guy," she said. "He may have had a drinking problem, but he would do anything for anybody."

Paz-Salvador has been charged with driving under the influence at least once before, in 2010 in Scott County. In that case, he'd had 12 beers and a blood-alcohol content of 0.3, according to court documents.

In Kentucky, the blood-alcohol limit is 0.08.

Paz-Salvador's stepdaughter and niece echoed his wife in their descriptions of him as a "good guy."

"Nobody's going to believe it," niece Amber Florentino said.

"He didn't do it on purpose," said Selena Ortiz, the daughter of Joy Paz.

Paz-Salvador works for a concrete company and had just gotten off work before the accident, Joy Paz said. He was near home when he was stopped by police. She disputed a police claim that her husband admitted smoking marijuana.

By traveling on both sides of the road, the bikers participating in the Horsey Hundred were "just asking for an accident to happen," Joy Paz said. Hinkel was struck on Lemons Mill Road.

Randy Thomas, president of the Bluegrass Cycling Club, which sponsors the Horsey Hundred, said riders would not have been on both sides of the road during Saturday's ride.

"It was a horrible statement to make, especially when we understand based on police reports that he was impaired," Thomas said.

Thomas said the club tries to plan routes so riders are not going in both directions at the same time. But in some cases, he said, that is necessary for short distances.

"It doesn't matter if there are bikes in both lanes," he said. "We are a part of traffic. Just like anybody in traffic, you have to deal with them."

The Horsey Hundred attracted 2,500 riders. It has been held for 38 years in Scott, Fayette, Franklin and Woodford counties and before Saturday had never had a fatality.

Police have said Paz-Salvador dropped off the right side of the road, then crossed both lanes of traffic and hit Hinkel head-on.

Comment ▼▼▼

Permission is granted to use the material in this article providing (1) the byline is included in an obvious manner crediting DailyKenn.com as the author, (2) a link to this page is included and (3) no changes are made either by deletion, addition or annotation. Original compositions at DailyKenn.com are sometimes seeded with decoy data, such as hidden acronyms, to detect unauthorized use and plagiarism.Comments at DailyKenn.com are unmoderated.
Comments containing obscenities, pejoratives, slurs, etc., do not constitute an endorsement of this site, its contributors or its advertisors.
Offensive comments may be deleted without notice.Comment ▼